Hands down one of the best brewery tours I have been on to date. Go now, don’t even read this for goodness sake. Oh and ask for Liz. She’s the best!

Wait wait wait….before you leave maybe just read a little it’ll make me feel good.   Love you thanks!

Beer Here!!!!

Headed to Ohio City to take the Market Garden Brewery tour. Tours are every hour on the hour, till 6pm I believe, on the weekends.

When you enter the brewery and store you’ll find a very comfortable and fun atmosphere waiting for you. They have a small store with merchandise ranging from glasses to baby clothes. It’s merchandised perfectly and really fun to shop.

You then start your tour by heading upstairs. On the tour you’ll sample some the beers they discuss with you last tasting over at their brewhouse…which is located right across the street, and as well provides a comfortable and fun atmosphere

Beers I sampled:

• Festivaus: My favorite, actually had 2 tastings of this.  It’s their Winter Ale and it’s heavenly!
• Citramax:A west coast style fruity and citrus IPA
• Prosperity: Wheat, Bavarian style Hefeweizen

Okay couple awesome things I need to share about this tour…
1. The owners are very big into restoring old furniture, building materials, etc.

When they took over this facility it was already a standing structure but much of it had to be torn down. Wah! However, they were able to save a brick wall (in image below)  that is a great focal point to the brewery.

They also restore and reuse old furniture they find to give it a new life. Like these cabinets for the bar, in the image below…these were actually from an old church!

2. There are 2 cats that live on the property and you can interact with them if you’d like.  I fell in love with this fine brewery cat named Trouble!

3. This tour was more interactive than others I’ve been on.  They actually had us taste samples of barley and smell hops after we crushed them up in our hands.

I got closer to the bottling, labeling, and distributing center than I ever have before! Currently they don’t pack up beer on the weekends so visitors can get even closer since no one is working!

And I felt like I was getting a behind the scenes tour of the behind the scenes.  We saw their “mad-scientist” lab where they come up with new creative ideas and the super cool testing room where they have testers come in and try the new test beers! (Currently no jobs are available. Bummer!)

I really enjoyed the tour, I especially appreciated how transparent Market Garden Brewery was as a company. I truly believe that in a time period where we don’t always trust companies transparency is so important. After the tour I felt like they shared every detail they could and allowed us in or at least to peek in to every room that existed. They explained where their machinery comes from, where their ingredients come from, and even where their waste goes! (Local farms and gardens.)

I’m happy I enjoyed the beer and happy that I know a little more about where it’s coming from now.

On that note don’t forget to take some of that liquid gold home with you. After your tour you can stock up on your favorites. But you can’t take Trouble home, believe me I asked. I’ll just have to settle for visiting my brewery cat!

If you’re in Ohio City visiting the area check them out…Oh and I almost forgot check out Nano Brew too. They own it too and it’s where they try out their newest concoctions. If they are drinkable of course.  It’s the BEERmuda Triangle! ((If you visit all three you’ll understand!))